Grammar Police: Who vs. Whom

Grammar Lesson #2: Who vs. Whom.

This is another one I can never keep straight.  I generally try substituting both into my sentence and figure out which one sounds better.  Usually, they both sound equally correct and I just default to Who because I think it sounds slightly less pretentious. 

So I decided to type it into Google and see what I could find in terms of actual grammar rules around this.

Turns out, there is a fairly simple way to figure out and remember which one is correct.  You can either answer your question or restate it using "he" or "him".  If "he" sounds better, use "who".  If "him" sounds better, use "whom".  Easy, right?

Examples:

• Who went to the store to get the milk?  He went to the store to get the milk.
• Does anyone know who spilled coffee all over my desk?!  He spilled coffee all over my desk.
• We all know who pulled the prank even though no one will admit to it.    He pulled the prank.

• Whom should I ask about getting a refund?  You should ask him about getting a refund.
• Whom did you vote for as our next President on November 4th?  I voted for him on November 4th.   
• I have a lot of grammar questions but I don't know whom to ask.  Ask him.

The official grammatical rule for when to use who and when to use who is: who is always used as the subject of a verb (who went, who spilled, who pulled) and whom is is used when you are referring to the object of a sentence (ask whom, vote for whom, refer to whom).

he = who (both end in a vowel)
him = whom (both end with m)

Questions or examples you still are not sure about?  Ask away and I will hunt down the answer for you.